I just found out that spending seven years in France automatically disqualifies me from donating blood in Malaysia.
Motorola was having a blood donation drive today. I have wanted to give blood for a long time, actually. In France there were often blood donation drives at INSA. But they were always at an "inconvenient" time, and I was too lazy to go and give it a try because my weight at the time fell below the minimum weight requirement (50kg). If it had been right after class, I would have gone to ask whether being slightly below the requirement could be accepted. But they were always on an afternoon where there was no class (makes sense, actually, to allow people to come).
I remember once having a heated argument with some friends because they were going to donate blood that afternoon and I said I wouldn't be coming out again after going home. I said it would be a waste of time if I came out all the way and then got told that I couldn't donate. Arnaud (see, it was so heated I remember exactly who were those harassing me) didn't listen to my whole sentence and he said, how could it be a waste of time when you are helping people? (and I think I stressed the second part of the sentence back at him) He simply refused to believe me when I said there was a minimum weight requirement. He insisted that there was no such requirement; anyone can donate blood! Another one there was Romain, who demanded me to "just say it if you have a fear of blood". I was furious because I was sure he wouldn't have said that to a guy. (And then when I met Arnaud again the next day, or a few days later, he told me, yes, there is a minimum weight requirement as I said. Well, it doesn't make up for you scolding me so much the other day, does it? -_- )
Anyway... coming back to Malaysia, I still didn't give blood because I never wanted to go out of my way to do it. Besides the weight requirement (which in Malaysia is 45kg, and I pass :P ), I also remembered a doctor telling me I had low "something". I can't remember what it was, but it has something to do with blood... I think it was either blood pressure or blood count. So I was reluctant to go out of my way just to be told I couldn't donate blood.
So finally today I went to "try" giving blood, pretty much ready to be told that I was anaemic and couldn't, but instead they told me my blood count was pretty good at 13.9g% (minimum requirement was 12.5g%). However there was one item in the questionnaire which was about whether we had spent five years or more in a European country from 1980 to now. Err... yes.
The person at the first table who was checking my blood type (O+, it turned out to be) stopped at that question and asked me how long I was there, and whether I ate beef there. He explained to me about something called the "variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD, the human form of the bovine condition sometimes known as ‘mad cow disease’)", a virus that can be dormant for 40 years (or something like that). Then he marked something on my paper and passed me on to the second station which was the doctor's station. Oh, and before that he asked me to weigh myself when I told him my weight was about 50kg. After weighing, I told him yes, it's 50kg (actually 49 or 50, but I don't think they needed to be that precise, right?), and he said, without shoes? Er... do I look that light to you...or that stupid that I would weigh myself with shoes on...
Anyway, the doctor took my blood pressure and stuff, but she also stopped short at the question about staying more than five years in France, and then she told me I couldn't donate blood. Ever. As long as it's in Malaysia. She asked me, I'll put you on the "not allowed" list, okay? (I've forgotten what that list is actually called; it had a better name than that) Okay, so I'm banned from something. Could that be considered an achievement?
By the way, I did some research online about this mad cow disease, and it seems that different countries have different requirements about it. Some say six months, some only restrict people who have travelled to the affected countries during a fixed period of time (instead of up till today). And some are like Malaysia... it's indefinite until they can screen blood for this virus.
It was lucky that I went down to the yoga room (where they were having the blood donation drive) early, so I was only the fifth person in queue to talk to the doctors. Imagine if I had queued for hours (there were more and more people later), and then told I couldn't donate... In the end I only took half an hour. I think all the people before me had given blood before (they had the blood donor's card/booklet). The third table, if I had passed the doctor's station, seemed to be where they updated the booklets, or gave you one if you were a new donor.
Well, no blood donor card for me :P (I'll have to be content with my organ donor card... I suppose they can't be picky about that) So I guess all I got from this "trip" was finding out my blood type and receiving a lifelong ban!
Motorola was having a blood donation drive today. I have wanted to give blood for a long time, actually. In France there were often blood donation drives at INSA. But they were always at an "inconvenient" time, and I was too lazy to go and give it a try because my weight at the time fell below the minimum weight requirement (50kg). If it had been right after class, I would have gone to ask whether being slightly below the requirement could be accepted. But they were always on an afternoon where there was no class (makes sense, actually, to allow people to come).
I remember once having a heated argument with some friends because they were going to donate blood that afternoon and I said I wouldn't be coming out again after going home. I said it would be a waste of time if I came out all the way and then got told that I couldn't donate. Arnaud (see, it was so heated I remember exactly who were those harassing me) didn't listen to my whole sentence and he said, how could it be a waste of time when you are helping people? (and I think I stressed the second part of the sentence back at him) He simply refused to believe me when I said there was a minimum weight requirement. He insisted that there was no such requirement; anyone can donate blood! Another one there was Romain, who demanded me to "just say it if you have a fear of blood". I was furious because I was sure he wouldn't have said that to a guy. (And then when I met Arnaud again the next day, or a few days later, he told me, yes, there is a minimum weight requirement as I said. Well, it doesn't make up for you scolding me so much the other day, does it? -_- )
Anyway... coming back to Malaysia, I still didn't give blood because I never wanted to go out of my way to do it. Besides the weight requirement (which in Malaysia is 45kg, and I pass :P ), I also remembered a doctor telling me I had low "something". I can't remember what it was, but it has something to do with blood... I think it was either blood pressure or blood count. So I was reluctant to go out of my way just to be told I couldn't donate blood.
So finally today I went to "try" giving blood, pretty much ready to be told that I was anaemic and couldn't, but instead they told me my blood count was pretty good at 13.9g% (minimum requirement was 12.5g%). However there was one item in the questionnaire which was about whether we had spent five years or more in a European country from 1980 to now. Err... yes.
The person at the first table who was checking my blood type (O+, it turned out to be) stopped at that question and asked me how long I was there, and whether I ate beef there. He explained to me about something called the "variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD, the human form of the bovine condition sometimes known as ‘mad cow disease’)", a virus that can be dormant for 40 years (or something like that). Then he marked something on my paper and passed me on to the second station which was the doctor's station. Oh, and before that he asked me to weigh myself when I told him my weight was about 50kg. After weighing, I told him yes, it's 50kg (actually 49 or 50, but I don't think they needed to be that precise, right?), and he said, without shoes? Er... do I look that light to you...or that stupid that I would weigh myself with shoes on...
Anyway, the doctor took my blood pressure and stuff, but she also stopped short at the question about staying more than five years in France, and then she told me I couldn't donate blood. Ever. As long as it's in Malaysia. She asked me, I'll put you on the "not allowed" list, okay? (I've forgotten what that list is actually called; it had a better name than that) Okay, so I'm banned from something. Could that be considered an achievement?
By the way, I did some research online about this mad cow disease, and it seems that different countries have different requirements about it. Some say six months, some only restrict people who have travelled to the affected countries during a fixed period of time (instead of up till today). And some are like Malaysia... it's indefinite until they can screen blood for this virus.
It was lucky that I went down to the yoga room (where they were having the blood donation drive) early, so I was only the fifth person in queue to talk to the doctors. Imagine if I had queued for hours (there were more and more people later), and then told I couldn't donate... In the end I only took half an hour. I think all the people before me had given blood before (they had the blood donor's card/booklet). The third table, if I had passed the doctor's station, seemed to be where they updated the booklets, or gave you one if you were a new donor.
Well, no blood donor card for me :P (I'll have to be content with my organ donor card... I suppose they can't be picky about that) So I guess all I got from this "trip" was finding out my blood type and receiving a lifelong ban!
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